Passengers travelling to and from the Bangalore International Airport faced inconvenience as none of the airport taxis were plying on Sunday.

About 1,700 to 2,000 airport taxi drivers went on strike after one of the taxi drivers died following a suspected heart attack. The drivers claimed that the BIAL had made no immediate arrangements for transporting the driver to a hospital and alleged that he died due to negligence.

One of the airport taxi drivers, on the condition of anonymity, said: “Around 11.30 am, a Mega Cabs driver, Maruti Prasanna, aged about 38 years, was in a nearly faint state and we suspect his blood pressure was abnormal. Looking at his condition, we informed the airport personnel. However, they did not act immediately and it was nearly an hour before the ambulance arrived. He was being rushed to the hospital when he died on the way.”

The Cab drivers have decided to be on strike till Prasanna's family is given a compensation of Rs 10 lac by the cab company and BIA.

Bus services

Meanwhile, many passengers had to depend on Vayu Vajra bus services for transport and faced inconvenience. Among them was Venkatesh Babu, a resident of Sahakarnagar, who landed at the airport at 8.20 p.m. on Sunday and found no taxis. “I had just landed from Hyderabad and tried to hire a taxi but was told that none of them were plying. I had to take a bus to reach home,” he said.

Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association Secretary Radhakrishna Holla said that as all drivers of Meru taxi, Mega taxi and KSTDC were participating in the strike, many passengers had been inconvenienced.

Police officials said that Maruti Prasanna, a resident of Peenya, had died a natural death. However, they said that the taxi drivers carried out a peaceful protest. Repeated attempts made by The Hindu to contact BIAL representatives and Mega Cabs went in vain.

Reproduced: The Hindu